High School Swimming: Carroll girls, boys victorious over Lansdale Catholic

WHITEMARSH — Sunday afternoon’s co-ed swim meet between Lansdale Catholic and Archbishop Carroll was a showdown featuring the two best Class AA programs in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

Both teams had strong individual performers but Carroll, which hosted the meet in its home pool at Plymouth Whitemarsh High, had the advantage in depth. As a result, the Patriots were able to post a 91-79 win in the girls’ meet and a 90-58 victory on the boys’ side.

The Carroll boys were led by a trio of veterans — all of whom were individual double-winners. Jerry O’Connor touched first in the 200-yard IM (2:26.97) and followed with a win in the 100 butterfly (1:00.97).

Matt Maerz started with a win in the 50 freestyle (24.84) and came back later to win the 100 freestyle (56.31). Jared Patota logged wins in the 200 freestyle (2:07.88) and the 500 freestyle (6:03.28).

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The troika also hooked up with Matt Crawford to take first place in the 200 medley relay and with Bill Poche to pick up a victory in the 200 freestyle relay.

“All my times today were pretty good — except the IM,” said O’Connor, a senior. “There wasn’t really any competition in the IM and that made it more difficult than if I had someone pushing me. I thought my fly was pretty good — good start and good turns.”

Maerz, a Patriot junior, said, “My places were all right but my times weren’t. My best race was the 50. I didn’t have a good turn but the sprint felt good. My 100 free was definitely slower than usual.”

Patota, a senior, said, “The 200 was my better race. That was a good time for this year. My turns were strong and I was able to keep a good energy level throughout the race. In the 500, I was just trying to maintain my speed and not die at the end.”

The top finishers in the boys’ meet for Lansdale Catholic were Conor Plasha, who won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.47, and Dang Khoa Tran, who was first in the 100 backstroke at 1:11.28. Plasha and Tran also teamed with Conor McCann and Dylan Yurasits to give LC the win in the 400 freestyle at 4:17.56.

“I got my best time of the season in 100 breaststroke but I know I can do better,” said Plasha, a Crusader senior. “My stroke felt good but I need to stop leaning my head forward. Overall, it was still a good race.”

On the girls’ side, Carroll’s Christine Loughery was the meet’s only quadruple winner. She touched first in the 200 free (2:02.81) and the 500 free (5:28.28) and teamed with Gabby Niskanen, Olivia Snyder and Caroline Quindlen on the Patriots’ victorious 200 medley relay and 200 free relay.

“Both races felt good today,” said Loughery, a veteran senior. “The 200 was rough coming right after swimming the relay. The 500 was fun because I hadn’t swum it since last year’s PCLs (Philadelphia Catholic League Championships).

“The 5:28 is my best untapered time -- and only a few seconds away from my best time ever. I was just trying to go equal times with my splits and not die during the race.”

Quindlen finished as a triple-winner by posting a win in the 200 IM with a clocking of 2:23.59. She also was runner-up to LC’s Nicole Marshall in the 100 free with a time of 57.62.

“The 100 free was a great race,” said Quindlen, a junior. “I lost by just eight tenths of a second. It was good because I didn’t expect to go under one minute. I saw her (Marshall) out of the corner of my eye so I knew I had to go all out.”

Lansdale Catholic got stronger as the meet went on starting with Mary Anne Wietacha’s back-to-back victories in the 50 free (27.03) and 100 butterfly (1:08.43) and Marshall’s wins in the 100 free (57.54) and 100 backstroke (1:06.13).

“I think butterfly was my better race today,” said Wietacha, a sophomore. “It felt good but it wasn’t my best time. It was a good race because when I felt tired, I just kept going. The 50 free was the same as my best time from before. I had a good start and a good turn.”

The Crusaders took first in the meet’s final three events with Marshall in the 100 back, Cassidy Fries in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.21) and the 400 free relay foursome of Mary Cate Coyle, Wietacha, Fries and Marshall.

“That was my first time to go under one minute in the 100 free,” said Marshall, a senior. “I was just really feeling good in warm-ups. And, it was nice because there was no school before the meet. I just took the whole thing really hard. My turns were good — especially the push-off.”